Leviticus 11:38
in Leviticus 11but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if water be put upon the seed, and aught of their carcass fall thereon, it is unclean unto you.
KJV
But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you.
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
3 notes on this verseIf any water - The reason of the difference is, because wet seed doth sooner receive, and longer retain any pollution and partly because such seed was not fit to be sown presently, and therefore that necessity which justified the use of the dry seed, could not be pretended in this case.
This site's exposition
a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water
on Leviticus 11:36-38
Two exemptions run against the rule just given. A spring or a cistern holding a body of water stays clean when a carcase touches it, and dry seed kept for sowing stays clean, while the same seed defiles once water has been put on it. The Hebrew phrase behind plenty of water is mikveh mayim, a gathering of water, and the Mishnah tractate Mikvaot, compiled around 200 AD, takes its name and its law of immersion pools from this verse.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But if any water be put upon the seed,....
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכִ֤י | vekhi | and if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יֻתַּן־ | yutan- | it will be put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| מַ֙יִם֙ | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| זֶ֔רַע | zera' | seed | H2233 → | 229 times |
| וְנָפַ֥ל | venafal | and it will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| מִנִּבְלָתָ֖ם | minivlatam | any of carcass their | H5038 → | 48 times |
| עָלָ֑יו | ʾalav | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| טָמֵ֥א | tame' | [is] unclean | H2931 → | 88 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ ס | lakhem | to <the> you |
וְכִ֤יand if
vekhiH3588 →4482 times
יֻתַּן־it will be put
yutan-H5414 →2011 times
מַ֙יִם֙water
mayimH4325 →581 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
זֶ֔רַעseed
zera'H2233 →229 times
וְנָפַ֥לand it will fall
venafalH5307 →435 times
מִנִּבְלָתָ֖םany of carcass their
minivlatamH5038 →48 times
עָלָ֑יוon it
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
טָמֵ֥א[is] unclean
tame'H2931 →88 times
ה֖וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לָכֶֽם׃ סto <the> you
lakhem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.
